March celebrated the opening of the 2019 Parliament with the Premier delivering his State of the State Address, and tabling the majority Liberal Government's Agenda 2019.  I am excited to be part of the Hodgman Liberal Government and to continue working to deliver for Tasmania.

In my portfolio of Energy, there are exciting developments in relation to Tasmania's Battery of the Nation.  I was delighted to join the Prime Minister, the Premier and my fellow Federal Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor at Lake Cethana in February, with the announcement of a $56 million commitment from the Federal Government to Tasmania’s Marinus second interconnector project, matched by Tasmania’s commitment to progress the first phase of our Battery of the Nation initiatives.  

We’ve since announced the three short listed pumped hydro sites for development are at Lake Cethana, and Lake Rowallan both in the Mersey Forth area, and the Lake Murchison-Tribute site on the West Coast.

We will now be busily working over the next 2 years to progress the interconnector and pumped storage developments to ‘shovel ready’ stage… developments that combined with wind will unlock billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs for our regional areas. Very, very exciting times ahead in the energy space.

I have also been out and about in the electorate from the Tasman to the Derwent Valley, Mole Creek to Miena - just to name a few.  Ive enjoyed the many regional events showcasing our region such as the Hamilton and Chudleigh Shows.  It was with great honour that I also officially unveiled two sculptures commemorating ANZAC heroes, the Harris brothers at their local school in Magra. 

Lyons really is a wonderfully diverse and community minded region and I look forward to seeing you when I'm next out and about in your area.. 

  Guy Barnett